Dialogue Studies (vols. 1–27, 2007–2015)

The volume considers politics as cooperative group action and takes the position that forms of government can be posited on a continuum with endpoints where governance is shared, and where hegemony dictates, ranging from politics as interaction to politics as imposition. Similarly, dialogue and dialogic action can be superimposed on the same continuum lying between truly collaborative where co-participants exchange ideas in a cooperative manner and dominated by an absolute position where dialogue proceeds along prescribed paths. The chapters address the continuum between these endpoints and present illuminating and persuasive analyses of dialogue in politics, covering motions of support, the relationship between politics and the press, interviews, debates, discussion forums and multimodal media analyses across different discourse domains and different cultural contexts from Africa to the Middle East, and from the United States to Europe.

The ‘Mixed Game Model’ represents a holistic theory of dialogue which starts from human beings’ competence-in-performance and describes how language is integrated in a general theory of human action and behaviour. Human beings are able to adapt to changing conditions and to pursue their interests by the integrated use of various communicative means, mainly verbal, perceptual and cognitive. The core unit is the dialogic action game or ‘the mixed game’ with human beings at the centre acting and reacting in cultural surroundings. The key to opening up the complex whole is human beings’ nature. The Mixed Game Model demonstrates how the different disciplines of the natural and social sciences and the humanities are mutually interconnected. After a detailed overview of the state of the art, the fundamentals of the theory are laid down. They include a typology of action games which ranges from minimal games to complex institutional games. The description is illustrated by analyses of authentic games.

As of July 2024, this e-book is available as Open Access under the CC BY-NC-ND license.

This book explores the meanings of educational interactions which aim to promote peace and positive relationships. This analysis is based on theories of communication and active participation in education systems, in particular in intercultural settings. The book investigates the cultural presuppositions of dialogues which can empower participants’ expressions in interactions through the management of discussions and conflicts. These presuppositions are observed in the use of language in participants’ narratives and interactions. The book draws on the fine-grained analysis of a large corpus of questionnaires, interviews and videotaped interactions collected in 12 camps promoted by CISV (Children’s International Summer Villages), an international organisation which is active in 70 countries. The analysis encompasses both organisational meetings and educational activities involving adults, children and adolescents of several nationalities, and shows the importance of the different ways in which the adults who coordinate these meetings and activities act and use language. These different ways of acting in interactions can promote both empowering dialogues and disempowering monologues, with important consequences for the fulfilment of educational purposes. For its contents, theoretical framework and methodology, the book may be of interest for educators, teachers, experts in mediation, scholars and students in cultural sociology, sociolinguistics, communication studies, discourse studies and dialogue studies.

The volume deals with the relationship between language, dialogue, human nature and culture by focusing on an approach that considers culture to be a crucial component of dialogic interaction. Part I refers to the so-called ‘language instinct debate’ between nativists and empiricists and introduces a mediating position that regards language and dialogue as determined by both human nature and culture. This sets the framework for the contributions of Part II which propose varying theoretical positions on how to address the ways in which culture influences dialogue. Part III presents more empirically oriented studies which demonstrate the interaction of components in the ‘mixed game’ and focus, in particular, on specific action games, politeness and selected verbal means of communication.